KUCHING: Transport Minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin has announced the reopening of driving institutes in the Southern Zone of Sarawak starting from Sept 17.
He said the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) agreed to the reopening during a meeting held on Sept 13 after the deliberated proposal was put up by his ministry.
“The resumption of driving institutes in the Southern Zone of Sarawak will commence on Sept 17 in order to give ample time to the institutes to make the necessary preparations including sanitisation for the reopening of their operations and to comply strictly to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued.
“Among the requirements that must be strictly adhered on top of the current SOPs are the need for the driving instructors and candidates to wear double face masks and face shields. The driving instructors must also provide thermometers in the Sijil Kenderaan Institut Memandu (SKIM) vehicles to check candidates’ body temperatures.
“In addition, the QR code MySejahtera must be made available in the SKIM vehicles for check in by a candidate prior to on-the-road training.
“To ensure proper air ventilation system inside the premises, the window screens must be wound down and the use of air conditioning in the car avoided during the road training,” he said.
Lee added that the Road Transport Department (JPJ) Sarawak had been informed by his ministry about the SDMC decision.
“In this respect, the JPJ is to check on the compliance of the SOPs by the driving institutes in the Southern Zone within these three days before approval to operate is granted.
“The driving institutes are reminded to comply with the SOPs issued as the JPJ will not hesitate to take any action for non-compliance to ensure the safety of all stakeholders from being infected by Covid-19,” he stressed.
Lee also thanked the state government and the SDMC, on behalf of all the driving institutes, for allowing the driving institutes to resume their operations.
